Lamu leaders launch morality campaign after leaked sex video

Lamu elders, clerics and women leaders have rebuked a recently leaked video that showed young Muslim girls performing sex orgy with an unidentified man.

Lamu is predominantly Muslim and any acts of sex between unmarried people are highly forbidden, not to mention outright pornographic acts that go as far as being portrayed online.

The video has angered many and brought to the fore the level of moral decadence among young people in the county.

In the four-minute clip doing rounds on social media, the four naked Muslim girls believed to be from Lamu town, are seen engaging in the act with a man whose face remains unseen for the entire recording.

Two girls could be seen engaging in lesbianism. At some point, one girl's face is clearly exposed.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that the girls had been handsomely paid to perform and record the pornographic video that was to be sold to unknown individuals running X-rated pornographic sites.

On Sunday, police arrested the 22-year-old woman whose face had been exposed in the video and she is said to be helping in the search for her accomplices who are on the run.

On Monday, religious leaders, the Lamu council of elders and the Lamu Women Alliance embarked on a special campaign dubbed 'Restore Dignity' which is meant to preach morality to youth across the county.

Last Friday, all mosques were directed to conduct special prayers concerning the matter.

Over the weekend, leaders, activists and elders stormed the Lamu Central Police station demanding the immediate arrest of those behind the shooting and circulation of the pornographic video.

Speaking on Monday, the Coast Inter-Faith Council of Clerics chairperson and Lamu elder Mohamed Abdulkadir expressed disappointment over the manner in which both culture and religious heritage had been eroded.

Lamu town is a Unesco heritage site having been listed by the international body in 2001 owing to its well-preserved Swahili culture and heritage spanning decades.

Abdulkadir said the act by those in the video was immoral and goes against Islamic teachings.

“I am calling upon the community, parents and elders to join hands and help restore sanity in our children,” he said.

The Lamu council of elders chairperson Sharif Salim called on the county government to enact laws that would severely punish people found engaging in immoral behaviour.

“This is proof enough that our young people have thrown caution to the wind and are copying western behaviour which is obviously misleading and dirty,” he said.

Lamu Women Alliance chairperson Raya Famau said her organisation would undertake door-to-door counselling for young Muslim women in the town to remind them of how they ought to behave as per the religious and cultural connotations.

She also warned individuals engaging in commercial sex that they have no place in Lamu.

“Our women need to know they shouldn’t have sex until after marriage. We also know that those who posted the videos are trying to advertise Lamu for commercial sex, but we want to tell them it won’t happen,” Famau said.

-Edited by SKanyara